July 2, 2008
The Baby Borrowers-The crying game
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There is a new reality show that started June 25th that is causing quite a stir. It’s called The Baby Borrowers. You can read all about it here:
Baby Borrowers
“The Baby Borrowers” is an intriguing new social experiment based on the hit British program that asks five diverse teenage couples — ages 18-20 — to fast-track to adulthood by setting up a home, getting a job and becoming caring parents first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and senior citizens — all over the course of three weeks.
As the social experiment begins, the five young volunteer couples are asked to literally grow up overnight when they are each given a home in a quiet cul-de-sac outside Boise, Idaho and attend pre-natal classes as each “mother” wears a simulated “empathy” belly to prepare them for the arrival of their “baby.”
When a real baby (all aged six-11 months old) appears at their door — courtesy of five pairs of real volunteer parents (some of whom were teen parents themselves) who entrust their infants to one of the couples — the nervous, fumbling teens are in for three long, arduous days that make chilling out a distant memory. They must stick to rigid routines, handle the feeding chores, diaper duty and crying jags that might be shared by baby and teens — all the while under 24-hour supervision by nannies and the real parents who are stationed next door, watching via monitor, and able to step in at any time. Plus, one teen from each of the couples must start a job, ranging from working in a local vet’s office to a lumberyard, leaving the other alone as caregiver for the day.
After three surprising, intense days, each teen couple will bid bye-bye to the baby and receive a toddler as their fast-forward adult life progresses. They will have to cope with typical “terrible twos” behavior, including pouty tantrums, potty training and other messes. Three days later, the weary couples must face the reality of parenting several sassy pre-teens/”tweeners” at once — each with a family pet in tow, adding to their responsibilities.
Seventy-two hours later, the teenagers arrive, thereby perhaps providing them with a mirror image of their own recent relationships with their parents. To complete the cycle of life, the experiment ends with as couples are graced with the opportunity to care for a senior citizen, including some with health issues, who represent what might be in store for them in the distant future.
Here’s a 2 minute recap of episode one.
Catch the Encore Presentation Wed, July 2nd 8/7c on NBC, followed by Part 2
07/02/2008 (09:00PM – 10:00PM) (Wednesday) : FACED WITH THE REALITIES OF CARING FOR BABIES, KELSEY AND ALICEA MAKE SURPRISING REQUESTS TO THEIR BOYFRIENDS – After sleepless nights and busy days feeding, changing and playing with their infants, both Kensington, New Hampshire’s Kelsey and Houston’s Alicea make unexpected requests to their boyfriends — they want to go to work. The pressure of maintaining a job, house and family is starting to build, but the teens get a surprise from home that make some teens happy and others not so thrilled. As the teens say goodbye to their infants, the parents are anxious to be reunited with their kids and give the teens their first evaluation as “parents.”
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4 responses to "The Baby Borrowers-The crying game"
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I didn’t catch all of the show tonight, but I found it incredibly interesting. The thing that scared me most as a father was the challenges that the parents of the teens had in communicating with their children. I think that’s something that will be very hard to deal with when your teen doesn’t want to listen to you.
Overall I think it’s a great lesson for teens to learn how much fun parenting is.
I remember an experience from when my first born child was born. A few days after being able to take him home, I vividly remember hearing my son crying his lungs out at 4 AM. My wife and I were both up and had checked to make sure he was fed, changed, nothing was hurting him and yet he still continued to cry.
Remember that it was 4AM and my son was crying for no reason. Before you knew it, my wife was crying for no reason. Then, I started crying for no reason. Basically it was 4 AM and all we wanted to do was sleep, but instead all 3 of us were just sitting there crying for no reason. All I could think is “Welcome to Fatherhood!!”
I think toddlers will be even more fun.
Well John, I think the producers wanted teen viewers to experience your 4 AM memory. According to Natalie, the mother of baby Etta (referred to as ‘it’ by teen Sean), Etta was content most of the filming but it was edited to show mainly her crying moments. Terrible twos next episode!
That’s a good point about Baby Borrowers, it’s pretty easy for the editors to make the storyline they want. All babies have moments where they are terrors I think. I’ve decided that the Terrible Twos is wrong. I think it’s the Terrible Threes. However, my theory is that it’s Terrible Threes now, because we wait longer to have our second and it’s the second child making an appearance which adds to the fun and excitement (and jealousy) of the older kid.
i want my child on baby borrowers. how can she get on there?